Chivu joins Inter for 13 million and half of Andreolli

Christian Chivu is officially an Inter player, as confirmed by the defender himself during a press conference: “I am joining Inter, it’s a life choice.” The player added: “I have thought about this a lot. I wanted to stay in Italy and before making my decision I thought about it for a long time. That’s life, and that’s football. I take away no bad memories, I have spent four wonderful years here; I have always felt loved by the people and I hope to have given something back to them. I hope the fans will realise I behaved like a professional these past years, I have always been available and gave everything to the club, at times playing when I was not in top form. It is an honour for me to have worn the Roma shirt. I have no regrets and it is certainly not easy to leave after 4 wonderful years. But this opportunity presented itself and I decided to go for it. The passion of the Roma fans is something unique - I felt loved by the people, and if they are now booing me it’s because they care." “I have never shied away from responsibility and I won’t start doing it now. Roma and their fans will always have a special place in my heart. I don’t have to give explanations to why I did not join Real Madrid. I think for myself and I get to decide what I want. I think I made the right choice. I did not want to harm Roma, which is why I did take advantage of the Fifa clause. I want to thank Roma and everyone who has been close to me. I want to thank all the managers; I am happy I have always worked with people who have helped me. I want to thank my former teammates for understanding me – they know how football works. They are not just colleagues, but also friends. I did not go to the party yesterday out of respect for the people and the players, I wanted to go but I think I made the right choice." The giallorossi confirmed later in the afternoon they had sold the player to Inter for 13 million euros plus half of defender Marco Andreolli, worth approximately 6 million euros. Thanks to this, Roma will on the whole earn more than what they would have if they had sold the player to Real Madrid for 18 million euros.